Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Sometime in the twenty-third century, humanity went extinct, leaving only androids behind. Freya Nakamichi 47 is a femmebot, one of the last of her kind still functioning. With no humans left to pay for the pleasures she provides, she agrees to transport a mysterious package from Mercury to Mars. Unfortunately for Freya, she has just made herself a moving target for some very powerful, very determined humanoids who will stop at nothing to possess the contents of the package.

Review:

"Sex oozes from every page of this erotic futuristic thriller. In a far-future class-driven android society, most of the populace are slave-chipped and owned by wealthy 'aristos.' When low-caste but unenslaved android Freya offends an aristo and needs to get off-world, she takes a courier position with the mysterious Jeeves Corporation, but the job turns out to have dangers of its own. Designed as a pleasure-module, Freya isn't quite as obsolete as she could be, as androids have sex with each other incessantly. Hugo-winner Stross (Halting State) has a deep message of how android slavery recapitulates humanity's past mistakes, but he struggles to make it heard over the moans and gunshots. Readers nostalgic for the SF of the '60s will find much that's familiar (including Freya's jumpsuit-clad form on the cover), but that doesn't quite compensate for the flaws. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"Stross takes a plot device common to mystery novels and turns it into one of the most stylishly imaginative robot tales ever penned." Booklist

Review:

"[Stross] always brings a fresh perspective to the genre, reinventing the future in bold new ways. Part space opera, part homage to late sf Grand Masters Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, this tale...belongs in most sf collections." Library Journal

Synopsis:

Freya Nakamichi 47 is a femmebot, one of the last of her kind. With no humans left to pay for the pleasures she provides, she agrees to transport a mysterious package from Mercury to Mars. Unfortunately, there are some humanoids who will stop at nothing to possess the contents of the package.

Synopsis:

The year is AD 7000. The human species is extinct—for the fourth time—due to its fragile nature.

Krina Alizond-114 is metahuman, descended from the robots that once served humanity. Shes on a journey to the water-world of Shin-Tethys to find her sister Ana. But her trip is interrupted when pirates capture her ship. Their leader, the enigmatic Count Rudi, suspects that theres more to Krinas search than meets the eye.

Hes correct: Krina and Ana each possess half of the fabled Atlantis Carnet, a lost financial instrument of unbelievable value—capable of bringing down entire civilizations. Krina doesnt know that Count Rudi suspects her motives, so she accepts his offer to get her to Shin-Tethys in exchange for an introduction to Ana.

And what neither of them suspects is that a ruthless body-double assassin has stalked Krina across the galaxy, ready to take the Carnet once it is whole—and leave no witnesses alive to tell the tale

Synopsis:

Freya Nakamichi-47 is a femmebot, one of the last of her kind still functioning. With no humans left to pay for the pleasures she provides, she agrees to transport a mysterious package from Mercury to Mars-only to become hunted by some very powerful humanoids who will stop at nothing to possess the contents of the package.

About the Author

Charles Stross is a full-time writer who was born in Leeds, England, in 1964. He studied in London and Bradford, gaining degrees in pharmacy and computer science, and has worked in a variety of jobs, including pharmacist, technical author, software engineer, and freelance journalist.

What Our Readers Are Saying

Average customer rating based on 1 comment:

C Horne, April 29, 2009 (view all comments by C Horne)
This is one heck of an entertaining and thought provoking book. Again, the book is almost entirely centred on a female character - one Freya Nakamachi - Baroque and Renaissance musician, professional concubine and kick-butt cybernetic dame! (you gotta be interested after a resumé like that!?) One of his best characters since Reeve in "Glasshouse" and Sue, the Lesbian Scottish cop in "Halting State".
The book is full of ideas and some challenging ones - like can we produce artificial intelligences similar to humans? Stross's answer is yes.
I am kind of wondering if the people who made "Ghost In The Shell" might be interested in animating it. I think Charlie Stross would be down for it! Maybe someone could animate it and I could present the Renaissance and Baroque music for the soundtrack. Well, one day ....

Great stuff! Full marks to Charlie Stross!

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No(13 of 25 readers found this comment helpful)

"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"Sex oozes from every page of this erotic futuristic thriller. In a far-future class-driven android society, most of the populace are slave-chipped and owned by wealthy 'aristos.' When low-caste but unenslaved android Freya offends an aristo and needs to get off-world, she takes a courier position with the mysterious Jeeves Corporation, but the job turns out to have dangers of its own. Designed as a pleasure-module, Freya isn't quite as obsolete as she could be, as androids have sex with each other incessantly. Hugo-winner Stross (Halting State) has a deep message of how android slavery recapitulates humanity's past mistakes, but he struggles to make it heard over the moans and gunshots. Readers nostalgic for the SF of the '60s will find much that's familiar (including Freya's jumpsuit-clad form on the cover), but that doesn't quite compensate for the flaws. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Review"
by Booklist,
"Stross takes a plot device common to mystery novels and turns it into one of the most stylishly imaginative robot tales ever penned."

"Review"
by Library Journal,
"[Stross] always brings a fresh perspective to the genre, reinventing the future in bold new ways. Part space opera, part homage to late sf Grand Masters Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, this tale...belongs in most sf collections."

"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
Freya Nakamichi 47 is a femmebot, one of the last of her kind. With no humans left to pay for the pleasures she provides, she agrees to transport a mysterious package from Mercury to Mars. Unfortunately, there are some humanoids who will stop at nothing to possess the contents of the package.

"Synopsis"
by Penguin,

The year is AD 7000. The human species is extinct—for the fourth time—due to its fragile nature.

Krina Alizond-114 is metahuman, descended from the robots that once served humanity. Shes on a journey to the water-world of Shin-Tethys to find her sister Ana. But her trip is interrupted when pirates capture her ship. Their leader, the enigmatic Count Rudi, suspects that theres more to Krinas search than meets the eye.

Hes correct: Krina and Ana each possess half of the fabled Atlantis Carnet, a lost financial instrument of unbelievable value—capable of bringing down entire civilizations. Krina doesnt know that Count Rudi suspects her motives, so she accepts his offer to get her to Shin-Tethys in exchange for an introduction to Ana.

And what neither of them suspects is that a ruthless body-double assassin has stalked Krina across the galaxy, ready to take the Carnet once it is whole—and leave no witnesses alive to tell the tale

"Synopsis"
by Penguin,

Freya Nakamichi-47 is a femmebot, one of the last of her kind still functioning. With no humans left to pay for the pleasures she provides, she agrees to transport a mysterious package from Mercury to Mars-only to become hunted by some very powerful humanoids who will stop at nothing to possess the contents of the package.

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